


Cabinet Man (Demo Reel)

by LindirsArchives



Series: Wonderbolt [6]
Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Character Turned Into a Ghost, F/M, Writing Exercise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:48:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23480452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LindirsArchives/pseuds/LindirsArchives
Summary: He's always there, taunting her with words. She wouldn't, couldn't believe him. He's dead. But there he goes, so real yet so fake
Relationships: Claire Browne/Neil Melendez
Series: Wonderbolt [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1627114
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	Cabinet Man (Demo Reel)

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a test writing. I wanted to test writing ghost characters. This is NOT the final story. This is not the actual story. Just a prototype to see how y'all take in my potrayal of ghost!melendez. 
> 
> Actual "Cabinet Man" coming up later this month!

A week has passed since his death. Claire still couldn't move on

She's always had feelings for him from the beginning, but at first it was subtle, there's no sign of it growing. Until the moment his life was on the edge of a knife, she cried, her words spilled but it was no use. Her words meant nothing as he walked and fell from the edge into eternal peace. They couldn't, wouldn't dwell in the past. Dr. Lim had encouraged her that the show must go on, so she did. She tried to take her mind off of him. The grief was so near, she felt as if she couldn't bare it anymore, but again, people needed her and she would gladly distract herself by doing so

And then he came

"You did well in there" She was startled out of her mind as he appeared out of thin air. She just stepped out of her solo surgery and the first person to greet her was him

In front of her, stood Neil Melendez himself, in his own attire; the plain black suit, white shirt under, and black pants. He was pale, making the elk tattoo stand out even more

But that couldn't be, right? He's _dead_

"You're not real" She could see his face fall and his expression became unreadable. She wouldn't believe him, he was just a figment of her imagination

"I'm as real as anyone, Dr. Browne" He spoke with his old professional gruff tone. It was so familiar that she could've cried on spot

"But how could you be? You're dead!" His expression morphed into something similar to disappointment and sadness. She fought the urge to apologize

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I can't visit" She couldn't believe this. There stood her old mentor who died of internal bleeding, she saw him, waited by his side as the flat lines beep in front of her. He's dead and yet he's here.

Claire had never believed in the supernatural, nor ghosts. That was Jared's thing. But the sight in front of her was too real to be a cruel joke played by Morgan

"Why are you here?" She asked once again, trying so hard not to break. She couldn't take it anymore when he approached her and finally wrapped his arms around her. She could feel cold hands holding her gently and his breath now her neck. He was cold, too cold even

"I miss you. And I know you haven't been doing too well" She finally let her tears loose. She sobbed on her own, not thinking of the people that might see her. He was there. He felt so real. Cold but real. She wanted to reach out, she wanted to-

"Claire?" Her attention was snapped back as she saw Shaun observing her like a specimen under a microscope. His expression was unreadable to most but from years of training, she could see the tinge of worry in his eyes. He's probably concerned on why she's crying in from of the OR

"Hey Shaun" She tried to keep it casual but Shaun still didn't seem convinced, especially from her puffy and red eyes

"Why are you crying?" She wanted to point at the person that was the source of her tears but when she turned, he disappeared. So Claire swallowed it and tried her best to convince him

"It's nothing much Shaun. Just... I miss Dr. Melendez" There was a pause when he processed the information and finally Shaun nodded slowly in understanding

"I miss Dr. Melendez too. He's very arrogant" Claire could've sworn she heard Neil yelling 'Watch it, Murphy!' Behind her. But she dared not to look back and instead let Shaun continue

"But... He made me into a better surgeon. Sometimes he's not so nice, but I know he is. We ate breakfast together once and he wasn't arrogant then, he was very nice. He gave me his apple. He's nicer than my father was anyway" It struck Claire a bit too late. Shaun had seen Neil as a father figure, it made Claire feel a bit guilty keeping her own sightings as a secret

"I have to go" Before Claire could say anything, Shaun already stormed away. Claire sighed

"Why won't you go to Shaun?" She asked, hoping he would hear. Then, Neil sighed

"I tried visiting him once, and I found him talking in his sleep about his dead brother. I wouldn't want to mess with his head even more" Claire nodded in understanding and opted to leave. But no matter how far she went, he would always follow from behind. Then, she took off in a sprint towards the doctor's locker room where she sighed in relief when she saw no one was present

"I'm trying to move on! Can you please stop following me?!" Then, he appeared right in front of her once again

"Look, Claire, I get it-"

"NO YOU DON'T!" She yelled, the tone caught both of them off guard and Neil froze in his place. He stayed quiet so she took the chance to continue

"You don't get it. You weren't there. You weren't there when I begged for you to wake up, you weren't there when I cried myself to sleep, you weren't there when I cried in your office, you weren't there whenever I cry in my sleep, dreaming of you, you weren't there when I cried seeing an elk, reminded of your tattoo, you weren't there! You were never there because you're DEAD! YOU ARE DEAD! YOU ARE NOT REAL! YOU LEFT! NOW GET OUT OF MY LIFE!" There was more force and pressure in the last few sentences and she could feel her own tears beginning to form and drop. She didn't know if he was still there or not, she didn't dare open her eyes. Then, she could feel arms wrapping around her, they were cold but they held the same warmth as before

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry I abandoned you" With those words, Claire broke into sobs as she slowly returned his embrace. She could feel the wispy drops of tears soaking her scrubs. It felt real yet she knew it wasn't really him. But she'd like to pretend it was

"I should have never left. I saw what happened. You think I wasn't there but I saw it all. I also saw what I did to Lim, it destroyed her. The day you told Jared the news, I could sense his distress from your call. I saw what it did to Morgan and Alex, both aren't very fond of me but still. I saw what happened to Shaun, you should've seen him talk to me in his sleep, it's worrying. And most importantly, I saw what happened to you. What this did to you. How devastated you are. That's why I came back, I don't want to abandon you once again. I love you" The last sentence hit her very hard. Harder than she thought. She could feel even more wave of tears coming and her sobs became gross and loud. She thanked whatever deity up there for the silence and emptiness of the room

"I love you too... I'm sorry... Please don't leave me" She gripped him tighter as if he was leaving. She could hear soft whispers in her ears, assuring her once again

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be here. For you" Claire let go and inspected Neil even closer. She could see the bags under his eyes, how thin he looked, almost gangly. His skin was sickly pale. The brown eyes that once held fierce flames now died down into nothing but black orbs. He looked... Dead. To put it simply

"I'm sorry..." Neil could only smile softly

"As long as I'm here, nothing matters anymore"

And Claire knew she was going to be okay as long as he's by her side... In life and in death

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment~


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